The weekend to top all weekends

Well, 15 years after first hearing about how wonderful Genova is, I've finally experienced its wonder for myself. And my new-found love for Italy has increased ten-fold. As usual, I've got lots to say, so I'll try and start at some sort of beginning...

On Thursday evening Chri and I went along to Villefranche to meet my friend Alice and her boyfriend who are on holiday in Cannes. Alice lives near Paris but I met her on my NZ trip last year. It was so lovely to see her again - yet another Flying Kiwi reunion! It got extremely warm here last week, so Chri and I insisted on a quick swim before we went for dinner. The sea was completely flat, transparent turquoise and warm as a bath. (I think Chri and the elements are conspiring to keep me here, especially as I'd spoken to my family through the week and they usually told me that it was either cold or wet in the UK.) Anyway, we had a lovely evening in a restaurant overlooking the bay, finally speaking French, which I haven't needed to do much of since I got to France!

On Friday I caught the train from Nice to Genova. It's takes about three and a half hours, so I'd packed a book, my new Italian phrase book and a big bottle of water as the aircon on the Italian trains is very unreliable. The compartment I was meant to be in was full of kids, so I went and sat in another compartment with an Italian girl. After a couple of stops, the girl lent over to see if the aircon was working as it was getting a bit unbearable. She said something to me in Italian so I had to explain I didn't understand and asked if she spoke French or English. Turns out she spoke fluent English and we got on like a house on fire - we had so much in common, from our background in marketing to not knowing what we want to be when we grow up and where we want to live! Soon we were joined by a guy who was trying to read and make notes, but as we were chatting so much, he couldn't really help but listen and eventually join in. He used to be a lawyer but has jacked that in and is now a photographer/designer, so lots in common with him too - it was actually all a bit surreal and made the journey pass really quickly. We couldn't get over how bizarre it was that the  three of us ended up in the same compartment and all got on so well. So now I've got two new facebook friends and I think there's a high possibility I'll see those two again. A good start to the weekend.

The view from Eataly, the lunch stop

I was met at the station in Genova by Omar and he took me to a lovely restaurant overlooking the port for lunch. While we waited for Massimo and Elvira to arrive in the car to pick me up, O took an extended lunch and gave me a quick guided tour of some of his city. Genova seems to have many different sides to it, both in terms of architecture and ethno/demographics. It's not a city you fall immediately in love with, but it has a certain charm and it didn't take me long to get sucked in. It's a 'real' city, not like Venice or maybe Florence (althought I've never been); it's a lived in city. I think it probably helped being with locals too. Massi and Elvi continued my tour - we saw the old town, lots of churches and the cathedral, Chri's parents' shop that we heard so much about in Perpignan, Chri's parents' apartment, a street of amazing old buildings full of frescos, the old city wall and the east and west gates, Christopher Colombus's house etc etc. We finished the hot afternoon off with a campari and soda and some nibbles, before heading east along the coast to Massi's house, which is officially paradise.

The view from Massi's house

Massi lives near a small town/suburb called Nervi (where O lives too). You drive halfway up a hill, leave the car and continue uphill on foot for about ten minutes. It's a hard climb but OMG is it worth it! Words can't really explain how perfect the setting is - I'll post pics when I'm back in Nice - but it's absolutely stunning. He's got a long garden overlooking the sea and the views from every window are simply perfect. Even this morning - day four of my visit - I opened the shutters and the view took my breath away. Chri arrived at 9pm on the train from Monaco, very excited to be hosting me in his city, so we just chilled out at home before heading back into town to meet him. We had pizza in a small piazza then went for a sambuca coffee in a busier part of town. Apparently the city was pretty quiet as everyone is away on holiday and the students aren't back, but it was nice just strolling round with the boys saying ciao to every other person that passed - it's definitely their hood!

Right, I can't sit inside on the computer when the sun and that view are waiting for my outside, so I'm going to leave part two of the story for another time. Massi is at work and Elvi had to pop to her university this morning, so I'm going to have a shower then go and lie in the hammock until Elvi gets back when I think we'll head to the beach. I'm going to catch a train back to Nice this evening so need to make the most of my last day in paradise (well, until I come back next week...). Ciao for now xx